Black

#212521

Hex, rgb, cmyk and Pantone values for black, with shades, tints, matching colors and free print quality patterns.

Black is a near neutral, dark with barely any hue. Dark neutrals like this stand in for black without the harshness. It works under any accent color, holding a scheme together without competing.

Black color values

Every conversion for #212521, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#212521

RGB33, 37, 33

HSL120, 6%, 14%

HSV120, 11%, 15%

CMYK11%, 0%, 11%, 85%

Lab14.15, -2.81, 2.04

XYZ1.56, 1.76, 1.7

Decimal2172193

Web safe#333333

Pantone419 C

Shades of black

#1b1f1b #181b18 #141614 #0e100e

Tints of black

#353b35 #495249 #5d685d #717e71 #869386 #9ca79c #b3bbb3 #c9cfc9 #dfe3df #f6f7f6

Colors that go with black

Complementary#252125 Analogous#232521 Analogous#212523 Triadic#212125 Triadic#252121 Split complementary#232125 Split complementary#252123

Black in print

It sits near the bottom of the tone range, where dark colors gain a touch of weight on press. The cmyk build is 11, 0, 11, 85.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #212521 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

11 0 11 85

Ink sits on the surface, so colors stay bright and close to screen.

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

14 4 14 91

The stock absorbs ink and gains dot, so it needs a heavier build and reads a touch softer.

This color converts to cmyk comfortably and should hold on press.

See how it converts in the rgb to cmyk converter, or read rgb vs cmyk for print and what the k in cmyk means.

Black in css

Copy #212521 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #212521; }
.text { color: #212521; }
.border { border: 2px solid #212521; }

How black looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Black and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #212521 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #212521 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Black on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #212521 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around black? Pull matching colors from any photo with the color palette generator, or check a design for print with the rgb to cmyk converter.

Turn black into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #212521 and its shades, free at print quality. Click any one to keep editing in the pattern maker.

Arches Signature stripes Gem Shingles

Make posters, wallpaper and packaging art from black, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #212521 are worked out. The rgb, hsl, hsv, cie-lab and xyz values follow the standard conversions from the sRGB color space. The uncoated cmyk build carries more ink than the coated one, which is what a printer would compensate for when the same color runs on a rougher stock. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.